Golden opportunity
The Opposition, particularly the Congress, lauding Operation Sindoor and extending “full support” to the Centre for whatever action it takes to combat Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, came as a fillip for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP wasted no time in making good use of this support and the remarks made by those in the Opposition in Pakistan to bolster the image of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. Kiren Rijiju, the parliamentary affairs minister, posted a video on X of the all-party meeting after Operation Sindoor — it shows the Congress leaders, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, sitting in a row along with the home minister, Amit Shah, and the defence minister, Rajnath Singh — to suggest a consensus in favour of Modi that stretches across the political spectrum. Further, Amit Malviya, the BJP’s social media head, too, posted on X, indicating the contrast between Shehbaz Sharif’s cowardice and Modi’s “decisive leadership”. “When even Pakistan MPs are calling their PM buzdil and admitting he’s too scared to name Modi, it says everything,” Malviya wrote. “Their army is demoralized, leadership is directionless — India’s decisive posture has clearly rattled them,” he added, posting a video of Shahid Khattak, a member of Parliament belonging to the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, calling the country’s PM a “buzdil” for lacking the courage to even take Modi’s name and hold him responsible for the military strikes in Pakistan.
War and peace
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar addresses a press conference, in Mumbai, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. PTI
While India and Pakistan traded fire at the border, efforts for peace and reconciliation were visible in Maharashtra between the two rival factions of the Nationalist Congress Party. One faction is led by the veteran, Sharad Pawar, and the other by his nephew, Ajit Pawar. At a recent press interaction, Sharad Pawar toyed with the possibility of two factions coming together. He said that several of his party leaders were strongly in favour of unity. The octogenarian wily Maratha, however, sought to dissociate himself from the unity process, stressing that his daughter, Supriya Sule, the working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), would take the final call.
When confronted, Sule was evasive. She feigned ignorance and said she was too busy with the all-party meeting in Delhi over the then Indo-Pak tension. The two factions are on opposite sides of the political divide: the NCP(SP) is with the Opposition INDIA bloc and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is with the ruling National Democratic Alliance. The biggest question is this: which side will a united NCP choose?
What a flex
Kerala’s political milieu has always been a big proponent of flex politics or the practice of displaying large political flex boards or large vinyl banners in public places. While parties cutting across political lines consider flex politics a major achievement, flex boards are an eyesore for the general public. Many a time, political parties in the state have faced the wrath of the Kerala High Court for installing flex boards at vantage positions, including in front of the secretariat. But they remain undeterred.
Kerala witnessed a spree in the installation flex boards this week when the former Pradesh Congress Committee chief, K Sudhakaran, came under pressure to make way for a successor. His loyalists put up flex boards across the state, including in front of Indira Bhavan and party headquarters, and even in a district where one of the presidential hopefuls, Anto Antony, has a foothold. However, flex politics, which is wielded to exert pressure on the All India Congress Committee leadership, did not meet the desired results as a senior legislator, Sunny Joseph, was selected as the new PCC chief. The real question is: who is sponsoring these banners? Politicians’ oft-repeated claim that they are sponsored by magnanimous businessmen beggars belief.
Cold feet
The tension with Pakistan that ensued after Operation Sindoor came to the rescue of the Congress in Assam, where it is in the Opposition. Raijor Dal, a regional party with a lone legislator in the assembly, had set a deadline for the Congress to declare an alliance and possible seat sharing for next year’s assembly polls by May 30. Before this, the Raijor Dal had not only attacked the Congress in the recently-concluded panchayat polls but also went all out to woo minorities, who form a significant section of the Congress’s vote bank.
The response of the Assam PCC president, Bhupen Kumar Borah, to the deadline has been calculated. “This is not the time... to discuss such issues,” Borah had said, referring to the sombre mood of the nation. Although the Congress is keen to have a broad-based alliance with non-BJP parties, it has developed cold feet towards joining hands with the Raijor Dal for its changing stand. Operation Sindoor had provided the Congress with an excuse to keep the pre-poll alliance in Assam under suspense. One wonders what it will do now.
